This invention relates to systems for lubricating a pneumatically-driven surgical tool used in medical operations, and more particularly to systems which introduce lubricants into the compressed airflow which drives the motor.
Different types of surgical tools are driven by compressed air to avoid electrical sparks in a potentially combustible environment of the operating room. The pneumatic motors of such surgical instruments are lubricated via a device that introduces a preset amount of lubricant into the compressed air flow that operates the pneumatic motor. After passing through the motor, the compressed air typically is exhausted into the operating room environment carrying with it the lubricant.
The expulsion of the lubricant with the exhaust air contaminated the environment of the medical operating room. Such contaminants not only may affect the personnel performing an operation, but can be carried into the surgical opening of the patient. In addition, the expulsion of the lubricant after passing through the motor wastes lubricant that otherwise could be recycled back to the device that adds it to the compressed air flowing to the motor.